Tonight’s edition of Gotham, titled “I Am Bane,” marked the first of the final three episode of FOX’s Batman prequel series. The show is officially in its own endgame now, with every important character and storyline absolutely barrelling towards the finish line. This episode focused, as expected, on the creation of Shane West’s Bane, but it brought a lot more surprises than many were probably expected. By the time all was said and done, Gotham was left in a much, MUCH worse place than when the episode began, and the questions regarding the show’s pending conclusion quite literally doubled.
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So much went down in this episode, and I’m going to do my best to give you the foot notes here. It should go without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway, this article is FILLED with spoilers. If you don’t want to know what happens, don’t keep reading. Let’s continue, shall we?
So things kick off with the arrival of the government in Gotham, promising that reunification with the mainland will finally begin. Simultaneously, Barbara starts going into labor, just as she is preparing to leave the city in a submarine with Nygma and Penguin. After the goes off to the hospital to find Lee, the two men left behind try to leave her in Gotham, but realize she stole a necessary part, keeping the sub on land. This sends them to the hospital after her, putting everyone in place.
That sneaky government official, Walker (who we find A LOT more about later), utilizes Hugo Strange to completely alter Eduardo’s genetics to turn him into the monstrous force known as Bane. He’s then sent to Gotham Central to take Jim, Bruce, and the military general. They’re all taken to an undisclosed location as Barbara reaches the hospital and prepares to have the baby.
When the trio of heroes are taken back to Walker, it’s revealed that she is actually Nyssa al Ghul, daughter of Ra’s al Ghul, and that she’s come to not only burn Gotham City to the ground, but also exact revenge on the two people who killed her father: Bruce and Barbara. Since Nyssa is already torturing the former, Bane is sent off to find the latter. When he does, he’s met with some resistance as Riddler and Penguin try helping Barbara escape.
Unfortunately, she doesn’t get too far, and ends up having the baby out on the loading dock. Alfred and Selina show up to try and protect her and the baby, allowing Lee to get Barbara and her child to safety. (This baby is definitely Barbara Gordon, though she hasn’t been named just yet.) Alfred and Selina fight Bane and get easily beaten, with the battle resulting in Bane breaking Alfred’s back.
Bruce ends up escaping and getting both Gordon and the general back to Gotham Central. What no one knows however, is that the general is somehow being mind-controlled by Nyssa and Strange. When they think that everything is going to be okay, the general calls in the order for the military to bomb the entire city of Gotham. The episode ends with Jim, Bruce, and Harvey watching helicopters fly over their home, dropping explosives all over the city.
Super happy ending, right??
